Latest / Wander the World with Pippa Hudson / Wander the World: Gourmet travellers flock to Cape Town for dining tourism

Transcript

Wander the World: Gourmet travellers flock to Cape Town for dining tourism · Wander the World with Pippa Hudson

0:00
Speaker 1: It's time to wander the world, and today, instead of
0:03
Speaker 1: visiting an individual destination, I want us to reflect on
0:06
Speaker 1: how fine dining experiences in particular can be a driver
0:09
Speaker 1: of tourism, not just for our city, but indeed for
0:12
Speaker 1: other destinations around the world as well. And I'll explain
0:15
Speaker 1: why I've got this on my mind in just a moment.
0:17
Speaker 1: But I want to repeat the invitation that if you
0:19
Speaker 1: would like to join the conversation I would love to
0:22
Speaker 1: hear from our audience members whether you factor in food
0:25
Speaker 1: when you are planning a holiday, and that can be
0:28
Speaker 1: a local holiday or an international one. Have you made
0:31
Speaker 1: a pilgrimage to a particular town in South Africa because
0:34
Speaker 1: you wanted to try a specific restaurant there. Have you
0:37
Speaker 1: done the same overseas or perhaps planned an entire trip
0:40
Speaker 1: for the family because you've always wanted to try Sri
0:43
Speaker 1: Lankan food, Vietnamese food, Brazilian food, whatever it may be.
0:47
Speaker 1: What role does the food experience play in your concept
0:52
Speaker 1: of planning travel? You can tell us with the what's
0:54
Speaker 1: up to seven two five six seven one five six
0:57
Speaker 1: seven or pop through an email to pipa h Cape
1:00
Speaker 1: Talk dot co dotz. Why am I thinking about this
1:03
Speaker 1: so much today, well because last night I attended the
1:05
Speaker 1: annual Gourme Guide Awards, which recognize top fine dining destinations
1:10
Speaker 1: in South Africa, and I've asked their founder, Jenny Handley,
1:13
Speaker 1: to join us in studio today to firstly reflect on
1:15
Speaker 1: what happened at the awards last night, but also to
1:17
Speaker 1: talk about this bigger issue of how South Africa appeals
1:21
Speaker 1: to gourmet travelers, both local and international. Jenny, miraculous that
1:25
Speaker 1: you're still on your feet after the long night you
1:27
Speaker 1: had last night. Thank you for coming into studio and welcome.
1:30
Speaker 2: Thank you to joy to be here.
1:32
Speaker 1: Thanks firstly, congratulations on reaching the milestone of the tenth
1:36
Speaker 1: anniversary of the Gourme Guide.
1:38
Speaker 2: Thank you.
1:38
Speaker 1: Take us back to the beginning of the story. What
1:40
Speaker 1: made you want to set up this publication and the
1:42
Speaker 1: awards that feed into it.
1:44
Speaker 2: Well, I first had no idea what I was getting
1:46
Speaker 2: myself into. But I was doing a lot of freelance
1:49
Speaker 2: travel writing and visiting wonderful restaurants all over the world
1:53
Speaker 2: and interviewing chefs and reviewing the restaurants and then writing
1:56
Speaker 2: about them, and I just realized that there was no
2:00
Speaker 2: platform where South Africa could showcase all its culinaryability in
2:04
Speaker 2: one place, a beautiful compilation of what we offered to
2:07
Speaker 2: the world and to culinary travelers. So I then approached
2:10
Speaker 2: a publisher, and the first one I approached, yes, we'd
2:13
Speaker 2: love to put this together. I then approached many of
2:16
Speaker 2: the top fine dining restaurants and started the journey of
2:20
Speaker 2: writing about them, and that was ten years ago. We
2:23
Speaker 2: launched the first guide in twenty sixteen, and here we are.
2:26
Speaker 2: We've launed twenty twenty six and it's been amazing to
2:29
Speaker 2: see how the industry has grown in popularity as a
2:32
Speaker 2: destination in that time.
2:35
Speaker 1: Very specifically fine dining experiences. This is not about bistro
2:39
Speaker 1: dining and casual dining, and obviously those have a role
2:41
Speaker 1: to play, and we'll talk about that later. But the
2:44
Speaker 1: decision to focus on the fine dining experience was that
2:47
Speaker 1: just to make it manageable or tell us more about
2:50
Speaker 1: how you directed it that way?
2:52
Speaker 2: Well, I think often in so many fine dining experiences,
2:55
Speaker 2: they are showcasing the culture of the country, and they
2:58
Speaker 2: work hard at that because if people are going to
3:00
Speaker 2: a country, let's say, for only three days, they're very
3:03
Speaker 2: specific about where they want to eat. And they want
3:06
Speaker 2: to feel the place, they want to learn about the
3:08
Speaker 2: people and the fine owning restaurants, I think spend a
3:11
Speaker 2: lot of time putting that together and really representing their regions,
3:15
Speaker 2: the ingredients that are grown there, and often you have
3:18
Speaker 2: a slightly more eloquent narration of the experience. And there's
3:22
Speaker 2: huge value in that too, because I always say in restaurants,
3:25
Speaker 2: we're not in the food business. We actually are in
3:27
Speaker 2: the people business. And for me personally, I loved going
3:31
Speaker 2: to places like Italy where you'd have a waiter who
3:34
Speaker 2: would so proudly say, I'm fourth generation. My family has
3:38
Speaker 2: been working in this restaurant for many generations and it's
3:41
Speaker 2: our home, it's what we do, and I didn't feel
3:43
Speaker 2: like we had that same level of pride in service
3:47
Speaker 2: in South Africa. So I was also determined to elevate
3:50
Speaker 2: the professionalism here.
3:51
Speaker 1: I'm so glad you focused on that because you're right.
3:53
Speaker 1: For so many people. Instead of waiting is what you
3:55
Speaker 1: do when you can't find anything else to do, and
3:57
Speaker 1: it's seen as a temporary thing rather than, as you say,
4:00
Speaker 1: a profession, and a noble profession at that. And I'm
4:04
Speaker 1: thinking back to my waitressing days there I was as
4:06
Speaker 1: a student working in a very upmarket restaurant at the
4:08
Speaker 1: time in Santon, and with me alongside me and the
4:11
Speaker 1: watering staff was Boba who had fled Yugoslavia exactly a
4:15
Speaker 1: story like that, entire generations of her family, who proudly said,
4:18
Speaker 1: hospitality is what we do, and it's something you aspire
4:22
Speaker 1: to being the best waiter in your village or to
4:25
Speaker 1: have the best service offering in your village. It was
4:27
Speaker 1: something to be proud of, not to be snared at.
4:30
Speaker 1: So I love the fact that you're elevating that sense
4:32
Speaker 1: of pride in the work now, Jenny. I mean, it's
4:35
Speaker 1: so hard to assess something like food, which is so
4:38
Speaker 1: personal and one person's taste is different from another's, and
4:41
Speaker 1: to be able to do it in a way that
4:43
Speaker 1: is fair and reflective of our diversity in a country
4:46
Speaker 1: with as much diversity as ours has got to be
4:48
Speaker 1: a challenge. How do you actually go about rating the restaurants?
4:52
Speaker 1: Because you award a one plate, two plate, three plate
4:55
Speaker 1: ranking system, tell us how you set that out. What
4:58
Speaker 1: are the criteria you con and what sort of consistency
5:02
Speaker 1: of meeting those criteria does does a restaurant have to show.
5:04
Speaker 2: Well, consistency is really important, so we're quite cautious about
5:08
Speaker 2: plating a restaurant. And there are many reviews who go
5:11
Speaker 2: both global and local. And it's interesting because the global
5:14
Speaker 2: reviews obviously come out in season, so they see the
5:17
Speaker 2: restaurants when they're really really busy. The locals tend to
5:20
Speaker 2: go more in the quieter month, so I feel like
5:22
Speaker 2: we get a really good representation of what the restaurant offers.
5:25
Speaker 2: And the criteria are absolutely diverse, and it's everything around
5:30
Speaker 2: the food. It's from taste and texture and sourcing of ingredients,
5:35
Speaker 2: it's the kitchen ethos, and then of course there's the
5:37
Speaker 2: people element, and it's things like rapport with the guest,
5:42
Speaker 2: restraint rhythm. And we always say the reviewer goes and
5:46
Speaker 2: enjoys the meal, but they're not only evaluating their own service.
5:50
Speaker 2: You know. I had an instance once I was getting
5:53
Speaker 2: sterling service because I knew the people in the restaurant,
5:55
Speaker 2: but the table next to me were hopping up and
5:57
Speaker 2: down and pouring their own drinks and at the end
5:59
Speaker 2: of the meal in fine dining, I might add, were
6:02
Speaker 2: stacking their plates because they were being ignored. So I'm
6:05
Speaker 2: not then evaluating my own service. I want to look
6:07
Speaker 2: at theirs and make that the evaluation. So we're very
6:11
Speaker 2: aware of what happens in the restaurant, everything from the
6:15
Speaker 2: first nuance, from the welcome to the very last way
6:20
Speaker 2: in which the bullet served you. That's all part of
6:23
Speaker 2: your experience.
6:24
Speaker 1: You know. I was smiling sitting here because one of
6:27
Speaker 1: your top stars, your three star winner of multiple years,
6:30
Speaker 1: you've got a gold plate last night, was Fain. And
6:32
Speaker 1: I've said several times on the show that the couple
6:35
Speaker 1: of times I've been privileged to eat there, they've been
6:37
Speaker 1: the most spectacular meals of my life. But what I'm
6:39
Speaker 1: going to remember of the experience of eating a Fain
6:41
Speaker 1: for the rest of my life is how they handled
6:44
Speaker 1: the situation when I accidentally walked out with somebody else's coat,
6:47
Speaker 1: Because the night that I went, in the middle of winter,
6:49
Speaker 1: two of us arrived wearing literally identical thick gray sort
6:54
Speaker 1: of coats, and as we were leaving, I slipped on
6:57
Speaker 1: the one that I thought was mine and it wasn't.
6:59
Speaker 1: The way they handled that situation with a very discrete
7:02
Speaker 1: phone call I got the next morning saying, you know,
7:04
Speaker 1: by the way, you know you were here last night,
7:07
Speaker 1: did you by any chance, wouldn't you mind just check?
7:08
Speaker 1: And you know it. It was handled with such delicacy
7:10
Speaker 1: because I was so embarrassed and from that first phone
7:14
Speaker 1: call to how they treated me when then I then
7:16
Speaker 1: arrived back the next morning with coat in hand, blushing
7:19
Speaker 1: to say, I'm so sorry. It was a world class
7:22
Speaker 1: experience in customer service and I'm never going to forget
7:25
Speaker 1: that for as long as I live, as well as
7:27
Speaker 1: I'm never going to forget the milk but that I
7:29
Speaker 1: ate that night. But as you say, it's much more
7:32
Speaker 1: than just the tangible elements of the field.
7:35
Speaker 2: Justice food absolutely, and I also think that good people
7:39
Speaker 2: can save a mediocre meal, but it doesn't always work
7:43
Speaker 2: the other way around. It is definitely people centric. It's
7:46
Speaker 2: how you make people feel. Service is what you do.
7:49
Speaker 2: Hospitality is how you make them feel. And I think
7:52
Speaker 2: any restaurant can do that, not only in fine dining, obviously,
7:56
Speaker 2: in that echelon of eating art, people spend more time
8:00
Speaker 2: training their staff and ensuring that people who haven't grown
8:02
Speaker 2: up in fine dining restaurants understand the nuances of where
8:06
Speaker 2: to stand, the body language posture, when to interrupt, the
8:10
Speaker 2: level of familiarity, but you know, according to that and friendliness,
8:15
Speaker 2: So I think there's so many little aspects that can
8:18
Speaker 2: make it a really superlative experience.
8:21
Speaker 1: Just for anybody who has come in midway to this conversation.
8:24
Speaker 1: Our guest with me in studio is Jenny Handley, whose
8:27
Speaker 1: publication The Gourmet Guide has just published its tenth iteration
8:32
Speaker 1: off the back of last night's Gourme Guide Awards handed
8:34
Speaker 1: out here in Cape Town, recognizing our top fine dining destinations.
8:39
Speaker 1: And I want to just expand now from talking about,
8:42
Speaker 1: you know, what makes a restaurant great to what makes
8:44
Speaker 1: a restaurant worth visiting and planning a trip around? And Jenny,
8:48
Speaker 1: it's you know, it really struck me last night when
8:50
Speaker 1: you named your three plate winners. The three plate category
8:54
Speaker 1: was described as being worthy of a flight offering world
8:58
Speaker 1: class dining, and I thought, gosh, have I ever gotten
9:01
Speaker 1: on a plane and flown to a destination literally to
9:03
Speaker 1: go and eat somewhere? And I couldn't think of a
9:05
Speaker 1: specific restaurant I'd pursued, but I could certainly go. Yes. Well.
9:09
Speaker 1: One of the primary factors in our decision to go
9:11
Speaker 1: to Destination A over B was because we wanted to
9:14
Speaker 1: experience the cuisine there, for example, It's more than just
9:17
Speaker 1: a tagline. How significant do you think gourmet tourism or
9:21
Speaker 1: fine dining tourism is for South Africa and specifically for
9:25
Speaker 1: cape Ton, Because I mean, it was very noticeable last
9:27
Speaker 1: night that the bulk of the restaurants recognized we're here
9:30
Speaker 1: in cape Ton. Jenny, I'm going to add to that
9:33
Speaker 1: by saying that over a decade ago, when I used
9:35
Speaker 1: to work as a speech writer for one of our
9:37
Speaker 1: local destination tourism groups. At the time, they were talking
9:40
Speaker 1: about this idea of gourmet gold that this was one
9:43
Speaker 1: of their four pillars of growing the tourism market to
9:46
Speaker 1: cape Ton. Ten fifteen years later, have we done it?
9:49
Speaker 1: Are we putting ourselves on the map as literally a
9:51
Speaker 1: foody destination?
9:52
Speaker 2: Oh? I think we have very definitely. And I also
9:55
Speaker 2: think it attracts people who come, let's so, to one
9:58
Speaker 2: fine dining restaurant that they're I really have aspired to enjoy.
10:02
Speaker 2: But while they're here, they also want to go to
10:03
Speaker 2: casual eateries, they want to go to markets, and they
10:06
Speaker 2: want to get to know our culture through the food.
10:08
Speaker 2: So there's absolutely no doubt that people are making reservations
10:11
Speaker 2: and then planning their holidays around it. I mean, I
10:14
Speaker 2: personally can't think of another way of planning a holiday.
10:17
Speaker 2: You know. I'll read about a restaurant and I'll go, oh, yes,
10:20
Speaker 2: and then I'll go home and say to my poor husband,
10:22
Speaker 2: you know, there's a new restaurant I'd like to try,
10:24
Speaker 2: And he goes, oh, that's fantastic where Copenhagen. So he
10:30
Speaker 2: knows what to expect, but I do, And I know
10:32
Speaker 2: that's how I would start planning my travel and then
10:35
Speaker 2: I would build around it, because it's really important. Food
10:38
Speaker 2: is something that brings people together. It helps you get
10:40
Speaker 2: to know other people and to understand how they think.
10:45
Speaker 1: It was obviously last night that a lot of thought
10:48
Speaker 1: is going into and increasingly restaurants are paying more attention
10:50
Speaker 1: to local provenance, where they source their ingredients, how they
10:54
Speaker 1: manage waste in their kitchens, how they conserve water in
10:57
Speaker 1: their kitchens, how they treat their people. Jenny that that
11:00
Speaker 1: idea of not just a local footprint on our food,
11:03
Speaker 1: but also a sustainable footprint on our food seems to
11:05
Speaker 1: becoming more and more important.
11:07
Speaker 2: It has, and we're very proud to have partnered with
11:09
Speaker 2: WWFSSE for the last three years, and those are the
11:13
Speaker 2: factors that we look at. We also, at the same
11:15
Speaker 2: time look at sustainability as longevity. Creating a business where
11:19
Speaker 2: you grow the people, where you treat them well. It's
11:22
Speaker 2: ethical and everybody in the organization actually understands the value
11:27
Speaker 2: of sourcing ethically, of behaving responsibly, and yes, lowering your wastage.
11:34
Speaker 1: It's not just our perception that Cape Down is being
11:37
Speaker 1: recognized increasingly as a foody destination. We've seen increasingly international
11:42
Speaker 1: lists featuring our top restaurants. We saw Condinace Traveler having
11:48
Speaker 1: the Reader's Choice Awards last year vote a mother city
11:50
Speaker 1: as the best city in the world for food. Obviously
11:53
Speaker 1: it helps to be endorsed with international monikers like that. Jenny,
11:57
Speaker 1: how significant is that do you think in drawing, particularly
11:59
Speaker 1: the Internet national foody Tourist.
12:01
Speaker 2: Well, I think it contextualizes for many people, particularly if
12:05
Speaker 2: it's a new destination that they haven't been to before.
12:07
Speaker 2: They love a trusted mechanism that's telling them what to expect,
12:11
Speaker 2: and I think that's where awards play a big role,
12:14
Speaker 2: and the perception management and the marketing is very important.
12:18
Speaker 1: I'm so glad somebody asked about this, asking why do
12:20
Speaker 1: we not have Michelin Stars in South Africa? Jenny, would
12:23
Speaker 1: you like to fill in? I mean, you've got your
12:25
Speaker 1: own version of a Michelin Star in awarding the three
12:28
Speaker 1: plates to the top restaurant, etc. But do you want
12:31
Speaker 1: to just talk a little bit more about the Michelin
12:32
Speaker 1: Guide and how we feature or don't all might in future?
12:36
Speaker 2: Well happily. So, I'm not sure that everybody realizes how
12:38
Speaker 2: it started, but it was in the nineteen twenties when
12:40
Speaker 2: the Michelin brothers, who owned a tire factory, decided that
12:44
Speaker 2: if people ventured further to enjoy restaurants, they would obviously
12:48
Speaker 2: then use more tires. So that's how the Michelin Guide.
12:52
Speaker 1: Did not know that, Yes, that's how it started.
12:54
Speaker 2: Well, obviously it's come along ray since then, and initially
12:58
Speaker 2: most of the Michelin Guide us we're actually in countries
13:01
Speaker 2: where they had a Michelin entire factory, but it's obviously
13:04
Speaker 2: moved beyond that, and we're very excited to see that
13:07
Speaker 2: the hospitality, the Michelin keys are here, and yes, sir,
13:10
Speaker 2: we are very excited at the thought that the Michelin
13:13
Speaker 2: Guide is around the corner.
13:15
Speaker 1: And of course we already have a number of South
13:16
Speaker 1: African chefs working in other countries who have earned themselves
13:20
Speaker 1: Michelin stars. In fact, the list is getting too long
13:23
Speaker 1: to reel them off now, but John Hendrick being one
13:24
Speaker 1: of them in Nice for example. Yes, Jenny, you do
13:28
Speaker 1: a lot of as you mentioned at the start, you
13:29
Speaker 1: do a lot of international travel and food writing yourself,
13:32
Speaker 1: and you are somebody who will plan a holiday around
13:34
Speaker 1: a food destination. Maybe in our last few minutes we
13:37
Speaker 1: can talk a little about some of the destinations that
13:40
Speaker 1: you want to flag for foodies who might not know
13:43
Speaker 1: how exciting a cuisine is, that the place is really
13:45
Speaker 1: worth going to discover its food. What comes to mind
13:49
Speaker 1: straightaway for you.
13:50
Speaker 2: Well, I think Vietnam. I've actually been twice, and I
13:53
Speaker 2: love the purity and the simplicity of the food. But
13:55
Speaker 2: it is a perfect representation of how people live. And
14:00
Speaker 2: one very good example is that locals, you know, they
14:03
Speaker 2: visit the markets in the morning in the afternoon because
14:05
Speaker 2: they don't necessarily have refrigeration, and that's where they congregate
14:09
Speaker 2: and get to know one another around the food. And
14:12
Speaker 2: also they have this etho set when they've had enough
14:14
Speaker 2: to eat, and they're sitting on their haunches eating maybe
14:17
Speaker 2: on the pavement. When their tummy hits their thighs, well
14:21
Speaker 2: that's time to share the food with someone else. And
14:24
Speaker 2: I loved that, and I felt they're gentle people. It's
14:27
Speaker 2: such a beautiful place to go to. So I was
14:30
Speaker 2: very excited when I was an honored asked to lead
14:33
Speaker 2: a tour cul and retur to Vietnam next year. And
14:37
Speaker 2: I then asked, instead of asking for a fee for
14:42
Speaker 2: the you know, for the professional part of the gurther
14:45
Speaker 2: it trip is to actually instead ask if a chef
14:48
Speaker 2: could go with me. So one of the plated chefs
14:50
Speaker 2: went into a lucky drawer last night that the three
14:53
Speaker 2: restaurants had been plated in every guard for the decade.
14:58
Speaker 2: We did a lucky draw and we absolutely that James
15:00
Speaker 2: garg of luck Alomb was the winner of the ten
15:04
Speaker 2: day culinary tour to Vietnam next year.
15:07
Speaker 1: I was so thrilled for that because a meal at
15:10
Speaker 1: luck Along was the first my first ever experience of
15:13
Speaker 1: fine dying dining, and we're going back I don't know
15:15
Speaker 1: how many years longer than the Gomet Guide has been around.
15:19
Speaker 1: So I was so thrilled because that team has really
15:21
Speaker 1: been a trailblazer for so many other chefs to follow,
15:25
Speaker 1: haven't they.
15:25
Speaker 2: They certainly have, and I think also one of the
15:27
Speaker 2: first to put us on the world stage. And many
15:30
Speaker 2: many people come out to South Africa to Cape Tan't
15:33
Speaker 2: to experience luck Alam and I can guarantee that they're
15:36
Speaker 2: not disappointed. It is that kind that is true destination
15:40
Speaker 2: dining worthy of a flight. So it's wonderful to na
15:43
Speaker 2: see it happening the other way around where we will
15:44
Speaker 2: be taking them to enjoy this amazing culinary tour with
15:48
Speaker 2: those who want to be with James going.
15:51
Speaker 1: To ask somebody's asking, is that open to the public,
15:53
Speaker 1: Jenny Years, Yes, okay. If somebody wants to join, how
15:56
Speaker 1: do they make contact with you to ask for details?
15:58
Speaker 2: They can look at our website go Omega dot.
16:00
Speaker 1: Cos okay, so on the website you can find the details.
16:04
Speaker 1: I'm sure you weren't the only one looking, so I
16:06
Speaker 1: would look fast and enquire fast if I were you.
16:09
Speaker 1: What's the best time of yeard to do that? To
16:10
Speaker 1: visit Vietnam?
16:11
Speaker 2: I always think you know, our mid seasons April and September,
16:15
Speaker 2: October more predictable weather wise, but anytime of the year,
16:19
Speaker 2: there always parts of Vietnam where the weather is actually
16:21
Speaker 2: good okay, and the food is going to be great
16:24
Speaker 2: all the time.
16:25
Speaker 1: Okay. Any other destinations that for you are tied up
16:28
Speaker 1: with wonderful memories of travel where the cuisine was worth
16:30
Speaker 1: a flight Jenny.
16:31
Speaker 2: Oh Japan, Yeah, oh yes, I'd go back in a heartbeat.
16:34
Speaker 2: I again loved the way people show their dignity, their humility,
16:39
Speaker 2: and Japanese chefs will work their entire lifetimes just to
16:43
Speaker 2: perfect one aspect of their craft. Absolutely focused, dedicated, and
16:48
Speaker 2: the food is incredible. Loved it.
16:51
Speaker 1: Waiting my appetite big time. Okay. This is an interesting
16:54
Speaker 1: comment from somebody on the WhatsApp line Fan and Stellenbush saying,
16:58
Speaker 1: we're a family of Celiacs with so many dietary requirements,
17:01
Speaker 1: so eating art is always a mission to find a
17:04
Speaker 1: suitable place. They have found a location in somerse At
17:07
Speaker 1: West called Barbets, where they said there are lots of
17:09
Speaker 1: gluten free options that they really enjoy, but there's so
17:13
Speaker 1: many cities around the world who well there says, there's
17:15
Speaker 1: so many cities around the world who case of Celiacs
17:17
Speaker 1: but unfortunately very few destinations in South Africa. Is there
17:21
Speaker 1: is their comment? Do you think that's a fair comment?
17:23
Speaker 1: Is it something we need to work on.
17:25
Speaker 2: I think it has been worked on. I think it's
17:26
Speaker 2: getting much better than it was. I think all dietaries
17:29
Speaker 2: the chefs are spending a lot of time trying to
17:32
Speaker 2: ensure that the menu is based, particularly on vegetables, which
17:36
Speaker 2: is an easy platform, and then adding proteins and wheat
17:39
Speaker 2: and other ingredients so that they can always look after everybody.
17:43
Speaker 1: Okay, that's a great idea, so building the structure of
17:46
Speaker 1: the dish being the plant focus, and obviously that's a
17:49
Speaker 1: more planet friendly approach as well to do it that way,
17:52
Speaker 1: So it makes a lot of sense. Jenny. In the
17:54
Speaker 1: last few minutes, let's just just come back to the
17:56
Speaker 1: restaurants that you played it last night, and it was
17:59
Speaker 1: such a lovely celebration. I have to say, the atmosphere
18:02
Speaker 1: in the room of the industry celebrating itself, and the
18:04
Speaker 1: support for the newcomers obviously, the applause and the appreciation
18:09
Speaker 1: for those who've been doing this for a long time.
18:12
Speaker 1: You've led the way, but with lovely sense of real
18:14
Speaker 1: enthusiasm for seeing new restaurants opening up, new people getting
18:17
Speaker 1: their first accolade. For example, how excited are you by
18:22
Speaker 1: the new wave of restaurants that we are seeing opening
18:24
Speaker 1: in the fine dining space in capet aunt, you want
18:26
Speaker 1: to just give us a couple of examples of things
18:28
Speaker 1: that really excite you right now.
18:29
Speaker 2: I get very excited by seeing new people. And I
18:31
Speaker 2: think also people open a restaurant with one idea in mind,
18:34
Speaker 2: and sometimes they duvetail a little a little bit, but
18:37
Speaker 2: I think people are spending more time planning their restaurant
18:40
Speaker 2: openings and working out what the community wants and what
18:43
Speaker 2: will fly. And because of that, we've got some amazing
18:46
Speaker 2: new playerss opening. And if I look at two new
18:48
Speaker 2: pleasured restaurants, both Datafel and Terrarium. In fact, we're winners
18:53
Speaker 2: of wwfsas awards.
18:55
Speaker 1: One was the.
18:56
Speaker 2: Chef, Gregory Henderson, and the other wise Terrarium is the restaurant.
19:00
Speaker 2: And that's a real showcase of what we should be
19:02
Speaker 2: doing in the restaurants space.
19:04
Speaker 1: We actually had Gregory and studio a few of probably
19:07
Speaker 1: a month or two ago now, and he brought some
19:09
Speaker 1: tasting items in with him. Lucky me absolutely endorse what
19:13
Speaker 1: you said there the food is extraordinary with the thought
19:15
Speaker 1: that went into crafting those dishes was just off the table.
19:19
Speaker 1: So the three plates, I just want to quickly run
19:21
Speaker 1: through this list of the restaurants that achieved three plate
19:24
Speaker 1: status last night, mainly Cape Town based Jenny and again
19:29
Speaker 1: that it was obvious last night that the fine dining
19:32
Speaker 1: world does seem to be weighted towards Cape Town. But
19:36
Speaker 1: are we seeing I mean, I know the living room,
19:37
Speaker 1: for example in kzed N has been making waves for
19:40
Speaker 1: some time. Now is Joeberg catching up on the act?
19:44
Speaker 2: You know? I think the offering is very different in
19:46
Speaker 2: Johannesburg and wonderful, but that's why we have regional representation.
19:50
Speaker 2: And I think they're again shorter meal times. You know,
19:53
Speaker 2: they love the cocktail bars, they love the day call
19:56
Speaker 2: very viaby. A lot of businesses transacted in a restaurant
19:59
Speaker 2: in Jebris, so it's quite different here. We sleep here, slower,
20:02
Speaker 2: beautiful mountain setting, wine farm sea and people are often
20:07
Speaker 2: on holiday when they're eating here. So I think it
20:09
Speaker 2: is very different and that is taken into consideration definitely.
20:14
Speaker 1: Well to read up about the winning destinations and the
20:17
Speaker 1: new exciting newcomers that you should be making your reservation
20:20
Speaker 1: now before they're all gone for the season. Jenny, where
20:23
Speaker 1: does one get hold of the brand new edition of
20:25
Speaker 1: the Gourme Guide.
20:26
Speaker 2: Well, the best is again on our website. There is
20:28
Speaker 2: digital version available and otherwise the Gourme Guide print version.
20:32
Speaker 2: We've got a special commemorative edition which will be available
20:36
Speaker 2: courtesy of Sanpelo, Greno and Espresso in the plated restaurants.
20:40
Speaker 2: Should they wish to get a printed version.
20:42
Speaker 1: Okay, so do ask. When you're dining at one of
20:44
Speaker 1: these you can ask to get a copy there. Otherwise
20:46
Speaker 1: go to gourme Guide dot co dot z to look
20:49
Speaker 1: at the digital version. Well, Jenny, congratulations on the tenire milestone.
20:52
Speaker 1: Thank you for a wonderful evening last night. And I
20:56
Speaker 1: just I love the fact that you are showcasing the
20:58
Speaker 1: extraordinary talent and creategy that we are seeing bubbling up.
21:01
Speaker 1: It's a very very exciting time to be dining out
21:03
Speaker 1: in Capton, isn't it.
21:05
Speaker 2: It certainly isn't. Thank you, Papa, it's my.
21:07
Speaker 1: We're going to pleasure Jenny Handley of the Gourmet Guide.
21:09
Speaker 1: The website again gourme Guide dot co dot ed a